1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the manufacture of decorative carpets, rugs, mats, carpet tiles, or other textile substrates, and particularly to an interactive system and methodology that enables users to modify and/or customize a digitized image via a computing terminal, and generate a custom order for initiating the expedient manufacture of a carpet, rug, mat, carpet tile, wall hanging, or other absorbent substrate, including a pile substrate, having the user-customized image dyed accurately thereon.
2. Background
Currently, the manufacture of decorative area carpets, rugs, mats, carpet tile, and other textile substrates is performed by textile patterning processes utilizing various weaving, tufting or printing processes. Among the latter are automated patterning machines in which a plurality of individually controllable color dye jets or ink flow valves are coordinated to receive electronically-defined dye dispensing instructions that render a patterned image upon the substrate. One such machine, described in more detail herein, comprises an array or matrix of stationary color dye applicators, each of which provides a flow of dye material that may be interrupted at precisely-defined times so that the appropriate amount of dye material may be applied to the appropriate location on a moving fibrous pile substrate to accurately render a color pattern thereon. Other machines of somewhat different design provide for the controlled direct application of pre-determined quantities of color dyes (perhaps defined by pattern data or manufacturing experience) to areas of the substrate through the use of one or more sets of dye valves that either are stationary or that traverse across the face of the substrate to be patterned. Yet other machines, specifically various Jacquard or solenoid-actuated weaving machines or graphics tufting machines, are specifically adapted for the detailed patterning of textiles through the use of colored yarns that are placed automatically into pattern-specified, pixel-like locations. While the teachings herein are believed to be applicable to any such patterning device in which colored elements are placed or incorporated, in accordance with electronically-defined, pixel-specific pattern data, in or on a textile substrate, a preferred embodiment employs the selective dispensing of liquid colorants in pixel-wise fashion onto the surface of an absorbent textile substrate by colorant applicators that are actuated in accordance with electronically-defined pattern data.
Currently, customers or users (unless otherwise indicated by comment or context, the terms “customers” and “users” shall be used interchangeably) wanting patterned or decorative carpets, rugs, mats, carpet tile, or other textile substrates refer to a sales brochure or samples, whether off-line, e.g., at a retail store or wholesale entity, or electronically, e.g., via an Internet web site. Whether in “hard copy” (e.g., paper) or electronic form, the sales brochure typically provides a menu of inventoried textile substrates (e.g., carpets or rugs, for purposes of discussion) that are pre-sized, and that have pre-defined patterns, images or decorations from which the customer may select. In some instances, the customer may not have any input to the color scheme of the chosen pattern, image or decoration, or perhaps may only be able to select those patterns/images that are inventoried, i.e., rugs that have already been rendered with images/designs and color schemes. Typically, however, the customer may be provided with some degree of customization. For example, after selection of the design or image that is to form the desired subject of the patterned substrate, the customer may select from among a pre-determined number of choices of color schemes, and, in addition, select a substrate size, if available in the maintained inventory of the supplier. In some circumstances, additional choices may be available, such as special color or design modifications, or the addition of standardized or customized text, perhaps at a higher cost.
Selection and/or customization of decorative textile substrates in this manner may be limited, in that the customer may not be provided with a large number of options from which to choose. Where some degree of customization may exist in the sense of a customer having the ability to supply the subject design or image of his/her choice, this scheme again may be limiting in that the customer may be required to physically provide the image to the manufacturing plant or retail outlet (e.g., by mail or in person), and may also be limiting in that the customer may not provided with the opportunity to view the actual final colors that will be used to render the image in the product prior to its manufacture.
While user manipulation of digitized graphic images is well-known in the photographic and graphic design arts to enable creations that are intended to be printed on paper or other two-dimensional media, e.g., through the use of design software that provides digitized image editing and manipulation functions such as Adobe Photoshop®, Corel Draw®, and the like, such an image edit/manipulation tool has not been used as an aid in the manufacture of decorative area carpets, rugs, mats, carpet tile, interior furnishing fabrics, and other textile substrates, and particularly fibrous pile textile substrates. In particular, there has been a need for a system whereby individual customers with no special training may produce one-of-a-kind or highly customized image creations that can be readily transformed into a decorative area carpet, rug, wall hanging, drapery, or the like, within a cost range normally associated with mass market economies of scale.
It would thus be highly desirable to provide a system and process that enables individual customers with no special training to custom design rugs, carpets, carpet tiles, dust control mats, furniture upholstery, wall hangings, drapes and other window treatments, or other textile substrates, and to initiate the manufacture of such textile products with the economy ordinarily associated with mass production, without the need for the manufacturer to maintain an inventory of such items.
It would also be desirable to provide a system that enables users of such a system, whether they are skilled designers or unskilled in the design arts, to customize an order for initiating the manufacture of carpets, rugs, mats, carpet tiles, dust control mats, furniture upholstery, wall hangings, drapes and other window treatments, or other textile substrates with designs, patterns or images of their choice, in a convenient, expedient manner.
It would be further highly desirable to provide an Internet/web-based system that enables users of such a system, whether they are skilled designers or those unskilled in the design arts, to customize the design of such textile substrates with designs, patterns or subject images of their choice via a standard web browser device, and further that enables such users to view the results of their choices, including color choices, on a computer monitor prior to generating a sample or a production order.
Conventionally, the process of electronically controlled injection of dye into a textile substrate such as a carpet involves the creation of a set of computer data including the specification of the design, the process colors, the desired colors, the substrate, and any textile finishing specifications. This computer data is used to create any number of replicates of the finished product, with all items of the finished product being identical within manufacturing limitations. Currently, there is no mechanism for individualizing single items within the computer data to accommodate the creation of a customized textile item in such a manufacturing process. Such customization could include the addition of strings of text coupled with design elements such as custom colors and customer-specified images strategically placed on the textile surface to create an individualized end product, as communicated by the customer.
Apart from the desirability of enabling a customer to have direct input of customized data in the manufacturing process, it would be highly desirable, from a manufacturing cost perspective,to provide a mechanism for enabling the resulting customization of these textile products to be specified and tracked on an item-by-item basis within the context of a larger, over-arching single product specification.
Methods currently available in the art dictate that all items produced by a single Stock Keeping Unit (“SKU”) are identical. In order to produce a customized item such as an area rug, an entirely new SKU and design must be created. The manually intensive operation of creating such custom designs is, in many cases, cost prohibitive. Due to the degree of manufacturing complexity introduced, tracking the large number of individual custom SKUs (in terms of pricing, costing, etc.) is also, in many cases, cost prohibitive. Thus, it would be further highly desirable to provide means enabling automated customization of a product within a single SKU. A single SKU could be used for pricing, costing, etc., yet the ability to specify and track a one-of-a-kind customized product would remain available.
Additionally, it would be highly desirable to provide means for enabling the creation of a customized product without significantly increasing the cost to produce it as compared with the cost of a similar mass produced product.